Moran Introduces Bill to Ban Cosmetics Testing on Animals

Congressman Jim Moran (D-8th) has introduced legislation that would prohibit animal testing in the U.S. cosmetics industry and phase out the sale of cosmetics tested on animals in foreign countries.

The bill is H.R. 4148, the “Humane Cosmetics Act.”

“The U.S. can and should phase out the use of animals in cosmetic safety testing," said Moran, in a news release. "Not only are animal-based tests fundamentally inhumane, they also rely on outmoded science that can fail to accurately predict safety for humans. 

“This legislation would encourage the use of testing alternatives that are more effective and cheaper to conduct, helping the American cosmetic industry remain the dominant, and humane, leader in the global cosmetics market,” he noted.

The tests have been outlawed in the European Union and Israel and stopped in India, according to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But although tests on animals for cosmetics aren’t required in the United States and many other countries, they’re still permitted, the organization points out.

"Americans deserve to have access to safe and humane products, and there is no compelling need for animal testing for cosmetics," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States. "We thank Congressman Moran for his leadership on this legislation, which will align the U.S. with the global trend moving away from animal testing of cosmetics. We have powerful and reliable alternatives available and it's time to embrace those new technologies and stop harming animals for unnecessary reasons."

More than 1,300 companies have already banned product tests on animals and are included in PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies cruelty-free database.

The Human Cosmetics Act would end the use of inhumane animal testing methods in favor of cost-effective testing alternatives that keep the American cosmetics industry competitive in a changing global market that increasingly requires non-animal safety tests, according to Moran. It would also ensure that only safe products, tested with cutting-edge technology, enter the American market, he noted.

Do you think Congress will pass the Humane Cosmetics Act? Why or why not?